Heroes of Eberron

And along came a madman...

12

DEC/09

After the journey by elemental galleon to the Audairian city of Passage, the party gets plugged back into civilization. Alchemical reagents and rituals are purchased, equipment cleaned, and magical items enchanted. Lucy has left a chest of enchanted items for the party and her magic mouth tells them where to find it. Dex checks on the Lightning Rail and finds the next train will be in 6 hours. The group meets up at the tavern, the Listing Tankard and comes upon a strange fellow. A rare Deva, a wizard by trade, is suffering from an apparently mental breakdown. However, after mad antics in the tap room, and a spell battle by himself against a phantom assailtant known only as “Him,” he joins the group and spurs them to get to the bottom of the plot. Besides, he has a strange magic ball he needs identified and perhaps this Lucy person can do it.
After a rest, the group gets on the train and travels without incident to Fairhaven. They notice a hobgoblin mercenary company, The Bloodspear Legion, encamped outside of town. When they arrive in town they find they are too late. The Korrenburg Chronicle states that the Queen has already been attacked! The dragonborn statue was a petrified warrior from a bygone age and he has poisoned Lucy, a number of guards and a servant was well as the queen herself. They have one foot in the grave and even the power of House Jorasco cannot aid them. The group visits the infirmary and finally catches up with Lucy who is in a very bad state. Old Mother Hubbard, the halfling healer informs the group that they were poisoned by Black Dragon Root, a rare herb that no longer grows on this side of the continent.
Going by the report of the Korrenburn Chronicle, the group goes to Her Majesty’s dungeon to confront the dragonborn. He is in chains and very aggressive, even breathing his acidic breath weapon at the group. He doesn’t speak the common tongue and has a great hatred for humans. Luckily, there are no humans in the group (although the changeling looks human). It is revealed that the dragonborn was turned to stone by a human (wizard?) named Haldrune. Considering this happened 3000 years ago, the group is concerned as to what manner of man Haldrune is. Wanting the dragonborn to confirm that the Haldrune is the same Haldrune that turned him to stone (or that perhaps it is a family name and the other is perhaps a decendent), the group plans on taking the dragonborn with them. The guards of Her Majesty’s dungeon don’t agree to the transfer and before long a melee ensues. After a dose of the sleepy time magic from the new wizard friend, the fight goes easily in the party’s favor and they disguise the dragonborn and sneak him out of the prison.
The group goes to Northpoint tower, where the Chronicle said that Van Haldrune was being held for questioning. The whole city is conspicuously full of warforged. Northpoint Tower is full of a mishmash of various mercenary bands, put out of work since the last war. They are obviously being mustered for a new campaign. With a bit of the cunning linguistics and linguistic legerdemain, the group makes it to the door that leads to the stairwell that leads to the prison chamber at the top of the tower. The two ogre guards (part of the Bloodspear Legion) are easily led away by promises of food. The door is unlocked and the party disappears from the view of the merc’s.
At the top of the stairs the party reaches another door. It is arcane locked, magically trapped, mechanically trapped and mechanically locked. After a bit of trouble, the party enters the room to find it sparsly furnished, empty of individuals, and the floors red with blood. To see what happened, the wizard used an Inquisitive’s Sight scroll. It created an illusion that played